After eleventh-hour negotiations in the General Assembly, Georgia's tax credit benefitting rural hospitals may become law after all. Georgia Health News reports that the credit, thought dead after the senate rejected the original version on March 14, was revived via Senate Bill 258 and passed after midnight Friday morning.
The bill grants to individuals and corporations a substantial tax credit for donating to rural hospitals that meet one or more of a few criteria, including critical access status. Under the bill, the Georgia Department of Community Health would maintain a list of eligible rural hospitals. The donor would be permitted to choose its recipient(s).
For corporations, the tax credit would be 70 percent of the donation or 75 percent of the corporation’s income tax liability, whichever is less. For individuals and couples, the annual tax credits would be capped at $2,500 and $5,000 respectively. The new bill would take effect in earnest in tax year 2017.
Detractors have challenged the bill as a stopgap measure that would distract from other rural health solutions such as expanding Medicaid.
The bill now heads to the governor’s desk for final approval. Please contact us at 678-974-7707 for more information about the status of this bill.
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